Plasma-cutter Technology
Advancement Few anti-tank weapons have been more feared than the plasma-cutter cannon. Allied and Soviet tank divisions have fallen alike to these powerful weapons, capable of slicing through thick steel with horrific ease. It is therefore ironic that one of the technologies used by the plasma-cutter originated from the Allied Nations. The Empire’s alliance with the Allied Nations during the Second World War proved beneficial to the Japanese in ways other than the Japanese acquisition of Hawaii. For some years, even after the war had ended, Japan was able to tap into the knowledge base of the Allied Nations, while zealously safeguarding its own, greatest advances. While the Japanese for the most part ignored a large part of what the Allies had to offer, considering the Allies’ technology and sciences as inferior to their own, they were nevertheless quick to exploit the opportunity to analyse Allied technology as well as their military (and thus figure out how to beat it). Still, there were a few areas that the Japanese took an interest in, particularly in the field of optics. With Allied technology and know-how, the Japanese were able to advance their understanding of optics, eventually learning how to create their own version of a spectrum beam generator, though the Japanese version was different from the Allies’ own. An Unorthodox Approach The Japanese soon ran into a problem the Allies themselves had encountered; thermal blooming. A high energy spectrum beam would lose some of its energy to the surrounding air, heating it. Allied scientists thought the effect a nuisance and a damper to efficiency, trying to minimize it. Japanese scientists, however, realised that it might be possible to exploit this effect. Instead of trying to minimize thermal bloom, the Japanese attempted to maximize it, using the effect to rapidly heat up and ionize air, resulting in superheated plasma capable of easily melting through the toughest of metals. The process was initially applied to industrial production, with industrial robots using the new plasma-cutters (as they soon came to be known) to cut metal with extreme precision. Plasma-cutters soon became widespread throughout Japanese industry, and research continued to lower power consumption and increase plasma-cutter efficiency. Weaponisation The Imperial military eventually caught on to the military uses of plasma-cutting. Seeing the ease with which industrial plasma-cutters could slice up metal, the Imperial military realised the potential utility of plasma-cutters as a weapon, and Prince Tatsu, fascinated by the idea of plasma-cutter weaponry, authorising a military R&D project to research and develop a practical plasma-cutter weapon. Of course, any practical plasma-cutter cannon would have to be significantly more powerful than industrial plasma-cutters, yet more compact, if they were to have any value as military weapons. After several months, the team working on the project managed to produce a working model that was small enough to be mounted on a tank; the MX-2 plasma-cutter cannon. While the number of shots was severely limited due to the extreme power consumption and limited power source, it was nevertheless a success, and funding for the project continued to flow. Miniaturisation and relentless advances eventually allowed the Japanese to develop a model small enough that it could be carried by a single man and powerful enough to cut tank grade armour; the MX-18 plasma-cutter cannon. With further advances, the MX-19 “Muramasa” plasma-cutter cannon was born, and the Tankbusters formed to take advantage of its amazing anti-tank power. Within a matter of months, these soldiers would carve fear into the hearts of Soviet and Allied tank divisions alike, as tank crews learnt that there was no metal that the plasma-cutters could not melt. Category:Technology